Police in Australia say they've already had enough of Nintendo's new mobile game, which encourages players to chase Pokemon at various landmarks in the real world.
The police department in Darwin says it's had to turn away a number of "Pokemon GO" players, who attempted to enter the building on Wednesday in pursuit of a GPS-related reward in the game. "Pokemon GO" requires players to use the cameras on their mobile phones to "see" monsters in the real world, with different monsters positioned at various points throughout any given neighbourhood.
One of those Pokemon, a Sandshrew, is apparently hiding near the Darwin police station, although police say he's nowhere to be found inside.
"For those budding Pokemon Trainers out there using Pokemon Go… please be advised that you don't actually have to step inside in order to gain the pokeballs," police said in a post on Facebook. "It's also a good idea to look up, away from your phone and both ways before crossing the street. That Sandshrew isn't going anywhere fast."
The post also advises players to "stay safe and catch 'em all!"
"Pokemon GO" is the first official entry in the video game franchise to be rolled out on smartphones, after 20 years of Nintendo developing games exclusively for its own handheld devices and consoles. The game is free to play on Apple and Android smartphones, although users can pay to obtain special in-game items.
Nintendo has been rolling out "Pokemon GO" on a country-by-country basis, with Australia among the first to get it. The game debuted in the U.S. on Wednesday evening, but has yet to go live in Canada.
Less than 24 hours after the game launched, social media was flooded with stories from people describing their awkward encounters while wandering their neighbourhoods, chasing monsters that only they could see.
"The lines between fantasy and reality have blurred," one said. "Anything's possible. Go live your dreams."
Sammy had no idea he was sat next to a Nidoran♀
— Niki Albon (@NikiAlbon)
Apparently people at work have been showing up late today because of . Fools! I've been catching 'em here all morning! :D
— Ethan Goddard (@RealNerdEthan)
got me wandering around my neighborhood like
— MAN (@MANvsGAME)
This has been my day so far
— Hankster (@TheMrHankSmith)
Many people got creative with the augmented reality element of the game, positioning the virtual Pokemon in all kinds of clever ways.
do you MIND
— del ✨ (@miimows)
Hallo!
— The Eyjay (@TheEyjay)
The hunt continues.
— Ali Baker maybe (@alibakes)
I pulled over and put my hazard lights on and pretended my car broke down just to catch me an Eevee
— Bec (@becccum)
When you're about to be a father but you also gotta be the very best like no one ever was...
— GameTyrant (@GameTyrant)
CTVNews.ca managed to download the game and test it out in the newsroom.
A wild Bulbasaur appears in the newsroom! What do you do?
— Josh Elliott (@joshelliott14)